Man fatally shot by police officers in Crystal

Police officers shot and killed a man at his home in Crystal Friday evening after he fired at least one weapon at them, authorities said.

The shooting happened just after 6:30 p.m. in the 5000 block of Angeline Avenue N., a residential cul-de-sac in the northwest metro suburb. The scene is east of Hwy. 81/Bottineau Boulevard and west of Twin Lakes, in a generally quiet, well-kept area of modest middle-class homes

According to Crystal Police Chief Stephanie Revering and Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek, who held a brief news conference Friday night, Crystal officers, backed up by officers from New Hope and Robbinsdale, responded to a 911 call about a suicidal man at 5:06 p.m. They tried to make contact with the man. When they finally did, he fired shots at police and they fired back, they said. The man died at the scene.

Authorities declined to say anything further or answer any questions.

At 9:30 p.m., investigators were still processing the scene. Police had taped off the cul-de-sac and several squad cars, including some from the nearby city of New Hope, were parked outside the tape.

According to scanner reports, just after 5 p.m., a 911 caller reported that a man was in the house holding two guns to his head. The man said that if police came to the house, he would shoot them through a door and blow the house up, according to the reports.

When officers arrived, he refused to leave the house or put down the weapons, according to the scanner reports. Officers quickly locked down or evacuated nearby homes.

About 6:30, the man began shooting at the officers from inside the garage, according to scanner reports. At 6:33 p.m., they fired back at him, the reports said.

According to public records, the house has been owned and occupied for about 25 years by a couple in their 60s. The two do not have criminal records, according to public records.

Scanner reports also indicated that the man was despondent, partly due to the recent death of his brother. The male homeowner's 57-year-old brother, a Brooklyn Park resident, died last week, according to a published obituary.

The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is investigating at the request of Crystal police, authorities said. They did not say if the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which generally handles officer-involved shootings, is involved in the investigation.

An autopsy will be conducted by the Hennepin County medical examiner, which will release the man's name and exact cause of death.